You’ve probably read all the buzz surrounding industrial content marketing. You are in good company if you are already doing it. The Content Marketing Institute found that 81% of business-to-business (B2B) manufacturers in North America said that their organizations were using content marketing (Source: 2016 B2B Manufacturing Content Marketing Trends—North America).
Here’s a reality check—only 18% of those manufacturing marketers reported that their content marketing was effective in accomplishing their overall marketing objectives. That, by the way is lower than the 26% in 2015 and 30% in 2014. So the effectiveness has been trending down over the past three years.
Fear not though, in another survey done by ENGINEERING.com (Engineering Marketers’ 2016 Campaign Plans Research Report) there was very good news. Here’s what they said based on the responses from their audience – “Content marketing has become so powerful in the marketing industry that only 3% of marketers say they are going to reduce their spending in this category. That’s even more amazing when you see that 27% (10% + 17%) said that it isn’t really working. The buzz around this concept is so powerful that if it doesn’t work, marketers blame themselves. In fact, they are 3X more likely to increase their budget if it isn’t working than they are to decrease their budget.”
My take is that industrial content marketing does work and it definitely helps sales. My opinion is based on my first-hand experience working with manufacturers, distributors and engineering companies.
Let’s go beyond the usual challenges of creating more engaging content, budgets and skills. There are two common complaints about content marketing that I hear from manufacturers and engineering companies.
In my previous post, I wrote about how manufacturing content marketing sets the table for sales. Let me expand on that idea to show you how that actually happens.
You build stronger relationships based on trust when your content marketing can accomplish the above objectives. Trust is the key in motivating visitors to initiate conversations with your sales team. These conversations lead to conversions and sales opportunities because they are far more productive instead of posturing. (See How Industrial Content Marketing Builds Stronger Relationships Based on Trust)
Trust reduces the resistance that people naturally have when they receive a sales call. They are more receptive to listening to what your sales people have to say instead of brushing them off as is typical in a cold call.
I don’t want to create a false impression that it is easy and quick to produce results. It is not. Also, this kind of expertise doesn’t come cheap whether you hire full-time staff or outsource it to an industrial marketing company.
It should be clear by now how content marketing is not just a popular industrial marketing strategy but it plays an active and key role in driving industrial sales.
You can download the full reports I’ve mentioned in this post from these links.
Let’s chat to determine if this will be a good fit for both of us. It will be a friendly conversation to get to know each other better, not a high-pressure sales pitch.
Sam says:
Not only does content help build trust with potential new customers, but it helps industrial businesses be found online. Well written content, especially content that makes good use of targetted keywords, helps with SEO. Some of the other benefits of SEO for industrial businesses can be found here.